Spring has “officially” arrived here in my Maryland neighborhood. After a day which brought high temperatures into the 60s F., an early evening shower wet things enough to bring out full choruses of spring peepers, cricket frogs and wood frogs. Barred owls are hooting frequently now. In the garden, Magnolia stellata is wonderfully fragrant even though only a few flowers are fully open. The first waves of garden crocuses, reticulate irises and early squills are all blooming with abundant hellebores. Frits in the frames are surging into growth: in this weather they emerge from the ground buds first and develop very rapidly. I pollinated Tecophilaea cyanocrocus today. Wish me luck – last year my efforts didn’t take. Snowdrops in general are past their prime, but Leucojum vernum carpathicum came into bloom yesterday. Tulipa kaufmanniana opened wide today – as usual, the first tulip of the year here. Last year I left some plants of Kniphofia thomsonii in the ground but in a protected place (in the past, I had dug them and stored the roots in a protected cold frame). I was happy today to see that these have started to push up and grow now. It was a very mild winter here: even some plants of Zephyranthes grandiflora left in the ground are pushing up new growth now. Not bulbous but very nice: loads of sweet violets blooming very fragrantly now. Also not bulbous but interesting: little Hacquetia epipactis is blooming. It reminds me of winter aconite because of the ruff of green bracts which surround the tiny bright yellow flowers ( it’s an umbellifer). Eranthis hyemalis itself is just about over, the hybrid ‘Guinea Gold’ is just starting. Ranunculus ficaria is also blooming. Now to modulate from the major to the minor: my biggest plant of Eremurus robustus, which bloomed spectacularly last year and set lots of seed, does not have an above ground sprout this year. Curious, I dug down to see what was going on. The crown of the plant is there and it’s sound; the thick thong like roots are sound and well embellished with small bright yellow feeder roots. But there is no sign of a sprout. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7, where Paeonia emodi and P. mascula are well above ground. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/